mgary:WinoRhino: mgary: Pumpkin beer is a bit tricky as a consumer. There are exceptional pumpkin beers out there, but there are also a lot of terrible pumpkin beers. Often times a lesser distillery will take a mediocre/bad batch of beer, pump it full of artificial pumpkin flavor, stick some seasonal labels on it, and shove it out the door.

When I made mine, I made it with this criticism in mind. Instead of pumpkin flavor I used 3.5 pounds of pureed pumpkin in the mash with the rest of the grain. I cooked it a little bit at 350 for a while to gelatinize the starches and caramelize some sugars before throwing it in. For the entire 6 gallon batch I only added .5 tsp each of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and all spice. The result was a copperish malty ale with an aroma of the spices and sublte hints of pumpkin and spice. Not perfumy, not pumkin-flavored, but sublte hints and notes. Balance, people.

I tip my hat to you, good sir. That is how a pumpkin ale should be made.

Indeed. That's about how I make mine, as well, but I use a bit less pumpkin, and don't cook it first. That's a good idea, though, and I think I might have to try that for this year's batch.

e lo:mgary: WinoRhino: mgary: Pumpkin beer is a bit tricky as a consumer. There are exceptional pumpkin beers out there, but there are also a lot of terrible pumpkin beers. Often times a lesser distillery will take a mediocre/bad batch of beer, pump it full of artificial pumpkin flavor, stick some seasonal labels on it, and shove it out the door.

When I made mine, I made it with this criticism in mind. Instead of pumpkin flavor I used 3.5 pounds of pureed pumpkin in the mash with the rest of the grain. I cooked it a little bit at 350 for a while to gelatinize the starches and caramelize some sugars before throwing it in. For the entire 6 gallon batch I only added .5 tsp each of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and all spice. The result was a copperish malty ale with an aroma of the spices and sublte hints of pumpkin and spice. Not perfumy, not pumkin-flavored, but sublte hints and notes. Balance, people.

I tip my hat to you, good sir. That is how a pumpkin ale should be made.

Indeed. That's about how I make mine, as well, but I use a bit less pumpkin, and don't cook it first. That's a good idea, though, and I think I might have to try that for this year's batch.

How long do you let it age? I made a pumpkin ale one year... after 3 weeks in bottles it was terrible... after 3 months it was sublime...

brewssuds:How long do you let it age? I made a pumpkin ale one year... after 3 weeks in bottles it was terrible... after 3 months it was sublime...

Good question. I will let you know soon. Although I will say after bottling 2.5 cases I had about 32 ounces left over so I threw it in a nalgene bottle and set it aside in the fridge. After it chilled a bit I sampled it completely fresh and uncarbonated and it was very good. So I don't think much aging will be required. I'll just let it carb up for 3 weeks or so and start drinking.

Mkkeller has a great line of neutral malt base beers where they use only one hop for bitter, flavor, and aroma, so you can learn what each hop offers. My local beer guy has them all and I've been working through them. As a brewer it really helps to know what each hop will offer in each phase of the game.

Cerebral Knievel:Its very easy for a little start up to crank out a mediocre beer, hop the hell out of it, and give it a silly name (fanciful is what they say in the biz).

I often felt this was the way it was in the 1990s when we went through the last craft beer boom. Every new brewery that hit the market did so with an IPA as the first offering. And they weren't even hop bombs at the time-- just normal IPAs. I always figured the reason for this was that new breweries trying to capitalize on the craft beer trend could hide off-flavors and inconsistencies in their technique by over-hopping and calling it an IPA.

Not a huge IPA fan. I don't generally like anything over 70-80 IBU's. I have had a couple of black IPA's, and they were tasty. I usually like to taste my beer, rather than have to eat something afterwards to get the bitterness out.

Some IPA's are more bitter than my mother-in-law when her sister visits my kids.

I wouldn't have said IPAs were the thing for this time of year; maybe just straight pale ales for me. Anything but that goddamned pumpkin shiat on sale right now. or 'Harvest' beer.

"So that's your new brew... what the hell is it?""I tried a few different ingredients, using up some of that leftover dark malt. Nice color, but it isn't really any distinct style. So, dunno what it is. Saison?""Nahh, we have one of those already. Save it for early fall and call it Harvest."

I'm falling off the IPA bandwagon with one key exception found in the article... Heady Topper. It's hands down the tastiest beer I've ever had. Yes it's a double IPA, and very hoppy, but the taste is out of this world and doesn't leave that bitter after taste doubles usually have. It's hard to come by outside of VT, but if found the Alchemist does it well. Side note, they also do a gluten free beer which I've tasted and was pleasantly surprised. I hate the GF movement, but have a friend with celiac who can finally enjoy a solid beer.

IPAs don't agree w/ my stomach so I typically don't drink 'em. I can have ONE & that's about it. I had Sam Oktoberfest & a Brooklyn Oktoberfest last night & I must say that the Brooklyn had a nutty quality that I didn't like. So far I'm really a fan of Sam & Pyramids version.